For the second consecutive month, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators declined in December 2005, the most recent month for which data are available.
The index now stands at 154.8 (1990=100).
Adjusted for inflation, Mexico's economic growth slowed in the final quarter of 2005 to an annual rate of 2.9%, nearly two percentage points less than the third quarter's 4.8% rate. However, "despite short-term fluctuations, the recent behavior of the leading index suggests that the [Mexican] economy is likely to continue growing moderately in the near term," says the Conference Board, a New York-based business research group.
